I just managed to finish and post my review of HH Model and HaoYu Toys' Rome Imperial Army Reloaded Infantry (legionary), but the next figure in the same line, the centurion, had already arrived. Given the natural interest in comparing the figures and the fact that the legionary quickly sold out in some of the most common venues, I have rushed ahead to supply a review for the new product. The figure is already available in Asia and on eBay, and is expected for immediate arrival in most US stores that will carry it (some appear to have it already).

Packaging - 4/4 stars

The Roman centurion comes in a solid cardboard shoebox-type container very similar to but a little narrower than the one for the infantryman (legionary). The face and side panels are decorated with a single continuous promotional image of the product and bear the HH Model and HaoYu Toys logos, while the back side has the requisite cautionary warning about small parts and choking hazard. When you pull off the top cover and remove a relatively thin sheet of black foam, you get to the first of two black foam treys, containing the figure, helmet, hands, and some of the accessories. Below this lies the second black foam trey, containing the shields and other accessories. Everything is collector-friendly and safe, and I appreciate the use of foam rather than plastic treys, all the more so after recently revisiting the ACI and Kaustic Plastik Roman legionary figures for a comparison to the HH and HY legionary. As with the legionary set, the box includes a one-page cautionary sheet.

Sculpting - 4/4 stars

This category includes both the head sculpt and the various sculpted or molded parts of the set. The face bears some possible resemblance to Gerard Butler (King Leonidas in The 300) and/or Michael Shannon (General Zod in Man of Steel). Perhaps it's just the beard; or the agitated, toothy grimace. I am not aware of who in particular (if anyone) the face is supposed to be, so I cannot judge whether it succeeded or not. Nevertheless, the sculpt is very good and seems a little more realistic than the one that was selected for the legionary figure. I might have preferred a more neutral expression, but it doesn't bother me much. The figure stands about 12 in (31 cm) tall, slightly taller than the legionary that preceded it in the line.

The other sculpted or molded items are all very well done, with plenty of fine detail on the decorations of the armor, weaponry, and military belt. The longer shield is sculpted in such a way as to convey the natural surface of wood, much like the one that came with the legionary; the smaller round doesn't have as much detail on the inside; both are finely executed on the front side. The detail on the phalerae (circular metal disks affixed on a harness over the centurion's chest and abdomen) is excellent, as is that on the helmet, on the belt plaques, on the greaves, and on the rather delicate gold-colored double hook for attaching the shoulder flaps to the chest (in fact, it hangs magnetically from them) and even more delicate torques. The vambraces feature an incised image of a "Roman" eagle (it looks rather medieval, but then again the vambraces are fantasy additions to what is otherwise a fairly convincing historical figure -- see in more detail in the legionary review). The sword scabbard also features a little delicate sculpting, but to me it looks less impressive than its counterpart that was provided for the legionary. The vine staff is sculpted convincingly but appears to be a little too short. As with the helmet that came with the legionary figure, it is missing the loop handle at the back of the neck guard, although it was designed to be there (this appears to be the case with all sets, not just mine).

Paint - 3.5/4 stars

The paint application is generally very good, although I was a little disappointed in the sword's scabbard (which looked more poorly painted than worn) and the inside of the smaller, round shield. On the outside of the shields, the smaller round shield is given a perfect, realistic look, whereas the larger shield seems painted a little too impressionistically to look convincing for a Roman shield. The vine stick and hair are given a perhaps overly flat paint job in brown, but on the other hand, the face and eyes are painted beautifully and realistically. The painting on the helmet and vambraces is impeccable, which is impressive, given the small details involved. As with the legionary figure, which has the exact same footwear, there are some minor imperfection on the straps of the boots (caligae), a common problem with strapped footwear that is sculpted with the foot.

Articulation - 4/4 stars

The product utilizes the CooModel body (or something based on it), which allows for very good articulation and reasonable sturdiness. Despite the heaviness of the cast metal and plastic elements, the overall articulation is not overly impeded. Unlike the legionary figure, there is no stiff armor to restrict even the ab crunch here, so the centurion is even more poseable. The legionary can take wide stances, sit, kneel, raise his arms fairly far, etc. The only obvious improvement would have been double-jointed elbows, but I suppose appearance won over articulation, as it did with the legionary figure.

Accessories - 4/4 stars

The Roman centurion comes with the same action figure stand, decorated with an image of a Roman eagle above the acronym SPQR, as the legionary. There are also four extra hands, making a total of six: a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of grip hands, a slightly different right grip hand, and a left fist. Then there are the dagger (pugio) and the sword (gladius), both with metal blades fitting into scabbards, each of which is suspended from its own baldric. There is also the vine staff, which is a bit undersized. I have already mentioned the easily-removable harness with the seven phalerae, the double hook which attaches to the chest via magnets, and the delicate plastic torques suspended from a strap of cloth worn around the shoulders. ACI did those better, from soft metal (as did Kaustic Plastik, but theirs could still snap easily). The choice of lightweight and probably brittle plastic was a poor one -- I feel that they could easily break, and moreover they do not hang naturally. I resorted to magnet magic (made possible by the magnet already in place for the double hook), slipping a couple of small magnetic disks into the cloth. There are two shields (although the promotional images only showed one, the round one): one is smaller and perfectly flat and round, while the second is a larger curved rectangle, but with curving lateral sides. In popular culture the legionary shield is normally imagined as a curved rectangle (like the one that came with the legionary), but the present shield seems to be more representative of the most widespread type used in the Roman army. The helmet and its transverse crest are two separate pieces, and you need to attach the stem of the crest onto the helmet (sliding it into the fitting from the front) -- or you can forego the crest altogether.

Outfit 3.5/4 stars

All the outfit items that come with the centurion set are very well made. These include the tunic, the military scarf (focale), and the cloak; all are given in stereotypical (but not historically universal or invariable) red. The "chain" mail corslet is actually made of silverish sheer fabric, with sown on brown leather (or pleather) straps (pteryges) ending with gold-colored tassels. In reality, the leather pteryges would most likely have formed part of a separate garment worn under the mail corslet.

As with the legionary figure, the centurion also comes with pants (braccae or feminalia?), which are a little out of place if the centurion is going to wear greaves, as he does here. The problem is that by the time pants were adopted as standard legionary equipment, even centurions had stopped wearing greaves (some cavalry units do appear to have worn both pants and greaves, but that is a different story).

The centurion has been outfitted with vambraces on both forearms (the legionary only had one, on the left forearm, since the right was covered in his case by the rare but less fantastical manica). This type of equipment is the result of giving in to screen fantasy and aesthetic preferences over historical evidence (only archers appear to have worn a vambrace, on the hand holding the bow). Unlike the vambrace that came with the legionary and was made of leather (or pleather), the centurion's vambraces are made of molded plastic; they are very finely sculpted and painted. I suppose those of us striving for historical accuracy could easily remove them as needed.

Finally, there are the Roman military boots (caligae), same as with the legionary (see that review for details and the image of the sole).

Fun Factor - 4/4 stars

Like the legionary before him, the centurion is is generally well executed, well articulated, and fairly sturdy, which makes him a good figure to pose and display. And since the legionary is already out there, the two can interact, team up against vile barbarians (Kaustic Plastik has produced a couple of Roman-period Celts), or the centurion could scold the legionary for improperly tied caligae-laces or what not. These figures do integrate well enough with earlier Roman military personnel produced by other companies.

Value - 3/4 stars

As I wrote about the legionary figure from this line, retailing at $200 and not being a super-popular licensed character from the leading blockbuster of the year, this is not a low-cost product. On the other hand, it is a very good one. While it has fewer regular accessories than the legionary (also one less weapon, but then again one more shield), the centurion comes with more "bling," allowing for more variation when it comes to display. This sweetens the deal somewhat, and since this is an officer, you will probably not "need" to pick up more than one (the way you might be tempted to do with a rank and file soldier).

Things to watch out for

Generally, very little, just apply the same amount of caution that is always appropriate for handling higher end collectibles of this type. The only thing that made me nervous were the little plastic torques which I didn't want to break. Although I was too lazy to do it myself, it is always a good idea to use a hairdryer (or hot water) to soften the plastic of the hands before swapping. Unlike some other companies, HH Model and HaoYu Toys have not provided spare parts for products in this line (if you do break a wrist peg, your natural choice for replacement would be CooModel, since that seems to be the body they used).

Overall - 3.75 stars

With all the variable options (cloak on or off, phalerae on or off, torques, vambraces, choice of shield), I found this figure quite fun. And it doesn't hurt that he has the legionary to play with... err... boss around. Without going as far as to declare this figure perfect or its price unobjectionable, as with the legionary, I am very pleased with the quality, sturdiness, and range of accessories in this set.

You can find a review of the next figure in this line, the Centurion, HERE.

Update: For additional (comparison) photos, please see Post 5 below.

Introduction

Among historical sixth-scale figures, Roman soldiers and gladiators form a sizable subgroup. The high end treatment began with Ignite many years ago, and has continued with ACI and Kaustic Plastik. This year we are going to see three Roman releases from HH Model and HaoYu Toys. The first to be released, some months back, is the Roman infantryman or legionary. A centurion has just been released on the market, while a standard bearer (aquilifer) is to appear before the end of the year. This review is on the infantryman (legionary). I took the photos some time ago, but only now had the chance to put together the review. The Imperial Army Reloaded Infantry figure represents generically and somewhat fancifully what is now the most iconic appearance of the Roman legionary, clad in the lorica segmentata composed of overlapping plate segments covering the torso and shoulders. This look was common from the second half of the first into the third century (AD).

Packaging - 4/4 stars

The Roman infantryman comes in a solid cardboard shoebox-type container. The face and side panels are decorated with images of the product and bear the HH Model and HaoYu Toys logos, while the back side has the requisite cautionary warning about small parts and choking hazard. When you pull off the top cover and remove a relatively thin sheet of black foam, you get to the first of two black foam treys, containing the figure, helmet, hands, and some of the accessories. Below this lies the second black foam trey, containing the javelin (pilum), shield, and other accessories. Everything is collector-friendly and safe, and I appreciate the use of foam rather than plastic treys.

Sculpting - 3.5/4 stars

This category includes both the head sculpt and the various sculpted or molded parts of the set. The face bears some resemblance to actor Kevin McKidd, who portrayed the Roman centurion Lucius Vorenus in the HBO series Rome. The TV character was tacitly recreated by ACI (as Roman Republic Legio XIII Gemina), but the equipment that comes with the present product is much more closely comparable to ACI's legionary (Total Rome Roman Legionary/Optio/Elite Optio) or to one of Kaustic Plastik's legionaries (Legio XIV Gemina Invasion of Britain circa 49 AD Ancient Rome The Roman Army Valerius). At any rate, the product does not claim to represent Kevin McKidd and may therefore be forgiven for any departure from a perfect likeness. However, there is still something a little less than realistic about the sculpt, including the not overly fine stranding of the hair. The figure stands about 11.75 in (30 cm) tall.

The other sculpted or molded items tend to be very well done. Plenty of fine detail can be found on the decorations of the armor, weaponry, and military belt. The shield is sculpted in such a way as to convey the natural surface of wood, though perhaps that was overly-ambitious and the effect appears slightly exaggerated. The helmet is missing the loop handle at the back of the neck guard, although it was designed to be there (this appears to be the case with all sets, not just mine).

The sculpted or molded parts of the set, apart from weapons and accessories, include the helmet and armor. These are both actually composite pieces including both metal and plastic parts (the top and neck guard of the helmet are metal, the cheek-pieces are plastic; the cuirass and plate arm guard are metal, the shoulder guards are plastic). The plates of the plastic shoulder guards are actually individual pieces attached by stitches; they are therefore both somewhat articulated and fairly accurate (functionally) to the way this type of armor works. The plates of the metal cuirass, however, are simply sculpted or molded as two continuous halves (left and right) of the armor; this is inaccurate and helps limit articulation -- what is even more disappointing than the absence of individual plate segments is that these are sculpted/molded together with the two pieces covering the shoulders and upper chest, from which they are supposed to hang.

In addition to the standard legionary armor, the infantryman in this set has been outfitted with a relatively rare contraption called a manica. This is essentially an armored sleeve, here recreated as partly overlapping plates mounted on "chain" mail (represented by sheer fabric) over the right arm. This type of thing is more familiar as part of gladiatorial equipment, but it does appear to have been issued to Roman legionaries. The most famous instance is from the emperor Trajan's monument celebrating his conquest of Dacia in what is now Romania. It was accordingly hypothesized that the manica was introduced into the legions on this campaign specifically for defense against the falx (scythe-like weapons) of the Dacians. However, since then additional evidence for legionary use of the manica has come to light including actual archaeological remains from Dacia, Britain, and Judaea (there, at least, from a time earlier than Trajan's conquest of Dacia), not to mention artistic depiction on a monument from Libya. Giving the Roman legionary a manica remains an unusual but not impossible choice. Part of the problem is that the soldiers depicted equipped with it on Trajan's monument wear "chain" mail armor and greaves (shin guards) -- neither of which is featured here. For what it is worth, a recent publication on the equipment of the Roman army throughout the provinces features a lorica segmentata-clad Roman legionary in Judaea depicted alongide (though not actually wearing) a manica: R. D'Amato, Roman Army Units in the Eastern Provinces (1), 31 BC-AD 195, Osprey: p. 31/Plate G. Is that where HH Models/HaoYu Toys got the idea?

Paint - 3.5/4 stars

It is notoriously difficult to paint blond hair, and they could have spared themselves this problem if they had not tried to convey the look of Kevin McKidd. Other than that, the paint application is generally very good with almost no imperfections, except of course by design -- for example, allowing the painted plastic armor to look metallic and worn and blend very seamlessly with the metal pieces. The wooden and metallic elements on the shield, too, are very realistically painted. Perhaps the easiest place to spot some minor imperfection are the boots (caligae), a common problem with strapped footwear that is sculpted with the foot.

Articulation - 4/4 stars

The product utilizes the CooModel body (or something based on it), which allows for very good articulation and reasonable sturdiness. Of course cast metal and plastic elements can be heavy, although overall the articulation is not overly hampered by the outfit, armor, and accessories that come as part of the set. The legionary can take wide stances, sit, kneel, raise his arms fairly far, etc. The shoulder, hip, elbow, knee, wrist, ankle, and top of the neck articulation is very good, but the armor naturally restrains any ab crunch.

Accessories - 4/4 stars

While it would have been possible to provide even more accessories, the set comes amply supplied with them. There is of course the action figure stand which features a Roman eagle above the acronym SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus -- "the Senate and People of Rome"). There are two sets of spare hands, making three sets altogether: relaxed hands, fists, and grip hands. There are several weapons, including a dagger (pugio) with its scabbard, a sword (gladius) with its scabbard, and a javelin (pilum). The axe (actually mattock) is intended more as a tool for entrenching or construction. All these feature metal blades. Then there is additional equipment, including the legionary shield made of plastic, a "kettle" (canteen) made of metal (with some fine detail) and suspended from a leather baldric, a "ladle" (patera?) and a cooking pot made of cast metal, a rectangular leather satchel (loculus), a rolled-up blanket secured to a carrying pole (furca), and a smaller "all purpose" bag or pouch (which is provided in a pale, whitish color, much lighter than what was advertised in the promotional images). The dagger and the smaller bag are intended to be worn on the belt. I have already made mention of the helmet and armor, and I will reserve some other elements (belt, vambrace) for the discussion of the outfit. All in all, the accessories are a fairly extensive selection, and the only thing that really sticks out in my mind as a specific desirable addition would be a shield cover (something that Kaustic Plastik has provided on occasion).

Outfit 3.5/4 stars

The items I class under "outfit" are all very well made. These include the tunic, the military scarf (focale, to prevent chafing), and the cloak; all are given in stereotypical (but not historically universal and invariable) red. There are fairly long pants (braccae? -- although those should probably be even longer), which were eventually introduced into the Roman military, but fairly late; earlier legionaries (who would more likely have worn the lorica segmentata and other equipment in this set) originally wore no pants under their tunics, then adopted shorter pants reaching down just below the knee (femoralia/feminalia) from the auxiliaries. It may be that the pants provided are intended to be bunched up at the knees, giving them a shorter appearance after all. Then there is the far more questionable leather vambrace on the left forearm. This type of equipment is a favorite in fiction and in film portrayals that do not bother to take the facts into account; it is historically attested in the Roman army only with archers (protecting the arm holding the bow from the arrow). I realize that many do not particularly care about veracity of detail (and ACI already put vambraces on its legionaries), but there is something inherently perverse in an argument that a history-based figure need not be as historically accurate as possible. At any rate, one is free to keep or remove the vambrace (and for that matter the long pants) as one sees fit. There is also the removable military belt (cingulum), with elaborately decorated plaques (an improvement on what we have been getting from Kaustic Plastik), which purposefully skip a turn or two where the dagger and smaller bag are supposed to be hung. The belt features four "dangly" strips (baltea) with round metallic studs and attachable decorative end-pieces (pensila). Finally, there are the Roman military boots (caligae). These appear to have been sculpted with the feet, but their strapped framework continues a little farther up the lower leg. The effect is very neat, but as noted above, the paint quality is predictably slightly less than perfect on the straps. The hobnails on the soles are arranged in a more complex and creative pattern here than what we usually see in other sets.

Fun Factor - 4/4 stars

This product is generally well executed, well articulated, and fairly sturdy, which makes it a good piece to pose and display. Add to this the expansive choice of accessories and the removable items (including some that might be historically inaccurate), and the fact that at least two more figures from this line are following it. In addition to being displayed with them, the product can be integrated (with or without modification) with earlier Roman figures produced by other companies.

Value - 3/4 stars

Retailing at $200 and not being a super-popular licensed character from the leading blockbuster of the year, this is not a low-cost product. On the other hand, it is a very good one, and comes with a pretty extensive range of accessories. In and of itself, this makes the set's price more tolerable, if not quite welcome. And yet, this is a soldier and soldiers are meant for army-building, which makes the price a lot tougher to deal with. Even if one does not get multiples of this set, one might want to get the other two figures in the line. Assuming that the price remains the same across all three, you would be out some $600 or more. Even if they were made in the past, when prices were lower, three Roman Ignite or Kaustic Plastik or ACI figures would not have costed nearly as much (in fact, some of them still do not), although they generally come with less in the way of accessories.

Things to watch out for

The figure and its accessories are fairly sturdy, certainly more so than what we have been getting from Kaustic Plastik which requires constant and repeated recourse to Gorilla superglue (which they in fact suggest in their instructions). Still, I would not give it to a small child to handle without close supervision. The little decorative ends for the "dangly" strips hanging from the belt are easy to attach, but also fall very easily; since they are fairly small, they might get lost. The metallic studs on the same "dangly" strips could become detached and, being so tiny, could also go missing. It is in such instances that Hot Toys provides extra pieces, just in case.

Overall - 3.7 stars

While I do not find this figure tremendously exciting -- probably because good renditions of this type of Roman soldier already exist in my collection -- I appreciate its quality of execution, its relative sturdiness, and the range of accessories we get with it. And it might get more exciting yet: in fact, his commanding officer, the centurion, has just arrived... and will be the subject of a separate review.

Where to buy

It seems like a couple of months ago these were everywhere. Now they seem to be largely sold out in most of the venues where I look, but you can find it below or look for it on eBay. (As for the centurion, you can find him for pre-order at most places.)